David Fairley Gardens Ltd Reviews 

On 8 December 2021 we ordered 2 Jasmine pleached Shrubs 180x120cm fames 75 litre pots at a total cost of £474.98. After constant chasing they finally arrived February 2022. However they were not fit for purpose and not as described/shown on David Fairley Gardens web site or as he himself described on the telephone at the time of taking our order/payment.
They were in 75L pots but when our gardeners lifted them out the new earth fell away and revealed a small root ball not even 25L. The shrubs were spindly and did not cover even 20% of the frame. Complete misrepresentation.
We have contacted via phone/email David Fairley, Max Houghton, David Wells numerous times and we have been stalled with empty promises of replacement shrubs/refund. We confirmed we would take either option but it is now April and they have defaulted on this and are completely unresponsive. We have a picture stored from their web site and a picture of the shrub that we actually delivered - it is a complete misrepresentation in height, coverage and quality. There is no screening given.
This has been a stressful and expensive experience. Our garden screening can not be finalised and we have been ripped-off. Do not be fooled by their initial friendly manner on the phone. We hope others will not fall victim to David Fairley Gardens Ltd.

Further warning: after submitting my above review Megan from David Fairley Gardens Ltd submitted a response - stating they 'have started an investigation.' I immediately contacted David Fairley Gardens and after several attempts spoke with someone who refused to give their name but said no-one named Megan work for them. Again I gave order number and went through the issues or what their web site showed and disparity with small/bad shrubs that were finally delivered. No-one has called back.
The seemingly professional response to my bad review is not genuine.

I ordered 16 Quercus Ilex 8 girth trees, at the time or order the 6/7 girth trees and 8 girth trees were advertised and sold separately. It has since been changed on their website since their experience with me and these trees are now not sold seperately. I didn't order online but dealt with a man called Max Houghton. He was helpful at the time but clearly is there to maximise their profit by upselling in girth size without regard to whether they have them in stock or not. He recommended to me the 8 girth trees which I purchased upon his advice.

Delivery was cancelled three times. Once I waited half the day and had to cancel my work, I wasn't informed until I called them and was told they pencilled it in the wrong day! This was a lie as I had text Max Houghton the day before to confirm delivery in which he responded and confirmed. When delivery came none of the trees were wrapped or protected and all but one of my trees were 6/7 girth. I had paid over a £1000 more for 8 girth trees. Spoke to David Fairley, quite a rude and patronising man. At first he tried to tell me I had the right trees, then in the same conversation told me he doesn't know why I was sold them as they only had 8 in stock of the 8 girth Quercus Ilex, then he seemed to get angry almost palming the blame onto me! For someome in business this isn't how you should deal with a customer who is in the right and when there is a clear fault which lies with the company. Maybe they thought I wouldn't realise they were smaller and cheaper trees. He almost tried to make out it was my fault and that I owed him an apology! I found him to be rude and unpleasant. I eventually would only accept the trees if I was given a written email to say that a mistake was made on their behalf and I was delivered the wrong size trees and a refund would be given of £1059.93 for the different in price. I eventually got this which was not easy as he wanted me to accept his word without written confirmation. He got angry and raised his voice to me over the phone, almost in a bullying behaviour. Some people may have found his behaviour intimidating, unfortunately I am well used to this type of behaviour from men like him in my line of work.

The trees were planted by his team of men, I paid extra for this supposed 'professional service'. One of the men told me he was just the delivery driver and it wasn't really his job and he hadn't done it before and was asked to help by David, I could see he was asking for help from the other men. The other man brought his 6 month old Labrador. I have two male rescue dogs myself and I was given no warning of this. My dogs were very stressed going crazy barking continuously that another dog was urinating and defecating all over my garden. I was told by this man that he ALWAYS brings his dog to planting jobs. If I was asked I would have said No. I also was told that the van they used to drive the trees had no brakes. Very clear health and safety issues here! The garden slabs were left messy and dirty after planting. I also did not see them use the 8 bags of compost that I had paid for. My house has large bifold doors overlooking the garden and I have cameras around the garden so I could see clearly how they were planting and how many bags of compost they used.

I was told that my refund would be actioned on Monday 4th April. I have had no confirmation of this, I have sent emails, text messages and tried to phone for confirmation that they have actioned and processed my refund and no one will respond. The company and its employees are avoiding my calls. I have contacted David Fairley himself and he will not respond to me or answer my calls. I have since read other peoples experience of this company and can see that getting a refund once you have paid for something is impossible. I'm starting to think David Fairley himself seems to think he is above the law despite me having clear written evidence he is in breach of contract! His arrogance is astonishing! I would suggest using a more reputable company if you are purchasing plants or trees, they do not operate in a professional manner at all. My experience has been awful. I am now sure I will have to do a charge back with Visa or go down the legal route to obtain my refund. I am not convinced this company will remain in business for long if this is how they operate. The reviews tell all. Think twice before you use them.

Well established plants in great condition. Very well packed in large box, but waited a couple of weeks for same, however very pleased with purchase and would use firm again.

I placed an order on the 14th February 2022 and was told two weeks for my trees to be delivered. I heard nothing and despite being assured the trees were "on the way" several times nothing has been received. Over six weeks later I am now in the position were I have had to demand a refund. Appalling service

I ordered a tree late autumn, after waiting weeks and no delivery I emailed and emailed and emailed, they are appalling at responding. Eventually I was advised it would be delivered in the new year, it wasn’t, I emailed and emailed and emailed again appallingly bad correspondence from them, eventually in February the tree arrived, no packing and being a ten foot tree they had it rolling around in the back of a small van on its side, it was completely battered and very poor. They again were very poor with their correspondence, and lets be honest all I wanted was a tree, suddenly they said they are giving a refund!
Do not look at the rows of trees on their website and the promise of nationwide delivery thinking this is what they do, they do not.
Do not buy from this awful place

Update: asked for a refund - no response. Fraudulent company - avoid!

Original: I ordered a magnolia tree over 5 weeks ago. The website said it would take a maximum of three weeks to be delivered. I chased after 3 weeks and was told they didn't have the tree in stock and it was still on order but they'd have it in 1-2 week. No apology was given. It's now over 2 weeks later and I've chased again but I'm starting to lose hope.

Good strong healthy plant arrived, well packaged too. Well done and thanks 😊

Simple, clean purchase. Clear description of plant, acceptable price, very well packed. Now planted and showing every sign of growing on without problem.

I had been looking for a particular shrub for ages, so was really pleased to find a good sized example on their website. The price was reasonable and also the delivery cost. My order was fulfilled within 10 days and I'm very happy.

very happy with my purchase, good quality bare rooted tree; would buy from this company again.

I ordered plants on 4/2/22 with a three week lead time (24/2/22). I have been advised there have been repeated delays and then finally promised via email a delivery last Friday which did not materialise despite being advised if they did not I required a refund. I have attempted to contact DFG via phone or email multipipe times and cannot get any response. The service provided by this company is the worst I have ever encountered on the internet. Avoid them at all costs.

I purchased 3 trees last May (I completely forgot to add my review). Max was so helpful and supportive. Trees arrived, and I definitely won't hesitate to purchase again.

My experience with this company was terrible.

Reached out to this company for some trees after which a quotation was received. Then the drama started. I was offered a home visit by a guy called Max and emailed a date of the visit. On the agreed date I spent whole day waiting for Max but he did not turn up. Tried to call him but no one answered the phone. I then got an email later saying he had some personal issues and will call me back which he never did. I had no choice but to reach out to the owner David. The experience with David was no where better. I was genuinely like to purchase the trees but through out the conversation i was being patronized. At the end David asked me to email him the details of the trees and will get back to me which I did immediately after the conversation, again no replies at all until I call up the office. I was told to contact a lady called Shirley who kindly replied to my requests and promised to send over photos. After a few days the photos never turned up, I then decided to contact the office again. This time i reached to David again but he seems in a rush and even tell me to leave him. How rude that was! It is very obvious that the company does not appreciate my business at all!

I’ve been asked to review a purchase which didn’t arrive. The email I received after purchase of a large tree, said it could take upto 3 weeks for delivery, 3 weeks later I emailed to enquire where the tree was and was informed that it would be another 3 weeks until delivery, I requested a refund which was processed quickly. I feel that communication could be improved and customers informed when issues with delivery timescales.

The tree was delivered without the planting kit which meant a very expensive trip to Homebase.

Also the tree was a much narrower girth than expected. Hopefully that will not affect future growth.

Buying and delivery arrangements all good and hopefully the tree will grow well.

Great camellia sasanqua tree! Fantastic customer service, thank you.

Very good service, the products that I ordered arrived In good condition.. Excellent

The product was exactly as stated, and the delivery was first rate.

ordered 3 dogwoods, they arrived promptly in good condition. thank you

Great service. Reasonable price. First time customer. Would use again.